Ties of Fate, Ties of Blood, Ties of Soul
by Tyger and Darkdracofire
Summary: Post Battle City AU - Chapter 2: Whomever knew that checking the mail could be dangerous? Not Kaiba Seto, that's for sure.
1. 1

Ties, chapter 1 Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening everyone!! ^_^ Welcome to my beloved fic. Before we begin, there are a few things you should know....  
1. It is totally based off the Japanese manga. Firstly because I like the story better (and it is a HELL of a lot different to the Anime, believe me), and secondly because I have the first 30 and the 34th volumes. In Japanese. I can read a bit of it.... working on more everyday. ^_^  
2. It's kind of AU before the end of Battle City, where we start off, and will become very AU afterwards. But we'll get to that later.  
3. Bakura shall be known as Bakura. (:P) Yami Bakura shall be known as Yami Bakura, or Yami if being referred to by Bakura. For now, at least. ^^ Also, they have a working relationship, and Bakura actually knows what the hell is going on. This is part of the AU-ness mentioned earlier. I'm sure you'll catch on. ^_^  
4. Malik is simply schizophrenic. In other words, mou hitori no Malik is _not_ a Yami-no-Spirit.  
5. I use bits and pieces of Japanese here and there without explanation, simple things which seem to be in every other fanfiction and you probably know already. Makes it seem a bit more real. However, if it ever gets to the point that I put in whole sentences in, there'll definitely be a good, solid translation. I'd do it in actual Japanese, but I don't know how to get it onto a web page. Yet. ^^ I'm a purist, I have to admit. It really rubs me the wrong way to write yami and y-a-m-i, instead of it's kanji. ^_^() I'm confusing you here, aren't I? I'll shut up now.  
6. I tend to write a lot of introspective stuff, and go off on a tangent all the time, so if you're looking for action, you'll have to be a bit patient. I'll get there, but I usually take the long way around. Must have to do with the fact I have absolutely no sense of direction.  
7. I'm Australian. Therefore, I speak Australian English. It's somewhere in-between American-English and English-English, if you know what I mean. To us, it's 'colour', not 'color'. I can't think of an example for English-English, but I'm sure you English people will pick it up somewhere. That's why. 

On a completely different note, anyone know where you can buy Japanese Manga is Melbourne? I want to keep my collection going.... And it doesn't look like I'll be going back to Japan anytime soon. :( 

Many, many thanks to the wonderful Phe-chan, who, despite many commitments, laziness and not much interest in YGO, conceded to beta for me. *grin* ^_^ *hugs Phe* She's the bestest.  
And, of course, to Darkie-chan, my wonderful muse who doesn't like to talk much. He's basically the only reason I got off my lazy ass to write this epic in the first place. ^_^() I have very little confidence in my abilities, so I need occasional prodding.  
If you actually read all that ^, I commend you. It's a lot of crap. Mostly crap you need to know, but still crap. ^_^()  
On with the fic!  
_Ties of Blood, Ties of Fate, Ties of Soul_

By Tyger and Darkdracofire 

Rating - currently PG13: language. 

Chapter 1 

_'Fiction reveals truths that reality obscures.'_  
- Jessamyn West  


Let it never be said that Malik Ishtal liked the man known only as Shaadi. Malik Ishtal did _not_ like Shaadi. In fact, Malik Ishtal positively _hated_ Shaadi. Which is why the second he had seen the elusive man, he had broken said man's nose. Or at least attempted to. He wasn't _quite_ sure how Shaadi had managed to get him from running full pelt, his fist millimetres from said nose to winded, sitting very heavily on the floor with his hands tied behind his back, so quickly he hadn't seen or felt a thing, but he was 100% sure it was Shaadi's fault and he was going to pay dearly for it. However, in his current position, he could do nothing except glare viciously at the man, which he did with a vengeance. Of course, this being Shaadi we're talking about, it seemed to have no affect, which Malik found extremely unnerving. When he glared at people, they were scared, damnit! Often so scared they either ran away as fast as their legs could carry them, or hid behind the nearest Authority Figure, be it mother, friend, neighbour, sibling or just someone who looked considerably bigger and stronger than them.  
Malik growled softly to himself. Only one thing to do now.... He tried to move his arms. If he could just get the Rod....  
"Looking for this?" Asked Shaadi, dangling the Sennen Rod in front of his face, just out of reach. Malik could have sworn he'd seen a hint of a smile on the stoic man's face. Great, now he was hallucinating as well - Shaadi _never_ smiled.  
"What the? How the fuck did you - Hey, give that back, you bastard, that's MINE!!" He tried to grab the Rod, but forgot his hands were tied up, tripped, and landed in an undignified heap on the floor.  
"No, it isn't, and that's the problem."  
"What the _fuck_ are you talking about? Of course it's fucking well mine!"  
"It is, as it appears to you. However.... you were not meant to regain the Rod after Battle City. It was supposed to stay in the hands of Mutou Yūgi until it was claimed by it's true owner. However.... Mutou Yūgi's kindness would surprise even Ra himself.... wouldn't you agree? Anyhow, no matter what has happened, the Rod must be united with it's true owner, and it most certainly doesn't belong to you. Besides," He said, frowning ever-so-slightly, "It's not as though you actually ever _desired_ the Rod."  
"No, but that doesn't give you - or anybody - any fucking right to just waltz in and take it from me, asshole!" Malik deathglared the man, and attempted to get up, only to find that he couldn't.  
"I wouldn't bother if I was you. Quit struggling and I will consider letting you go immediately."  
"Fuck you." Had he been able, he would have added the finger to his comment, but he had to settle for another glare. 

And such it was that the man known as Shaadi acquired the Sennen Rod, and the boy known as Malik Ishtal suffered yet another serious blow to his already shattered pride. 

~~~***~~~ 

Kaiba Seto did not believe in magic. Of course, having seen many of the things he'd seen and experienced many of the things he had been through, he was forced to, although rather begrudgingly, admit that yes, it did exist and that it was proving to appear wildly rampant in at least two of the world's elite duellists. This didn't mean that Kaiba believed in it. If he believed in it, as opposed to simply acknowledging it existed, he'd be forced to admit that there was a possibility, however slight, that either he - or even more concernedly - Mokuba, could possibly have even the smallest scrap of such a power. Magic was Something That Happened To Other People, and he was more than happy to keep it that way. Never mind the fact that he'd both suffered from magic-induced illusions and been put in a comatose state for several months, both after provoking a certain classmate-come-rival of his. He didn't even think about the soul-theft of himself and his brother during Duellist Kingdom. Thinking about it was admitting it had happened. And the strange mid-duel vision-illusions during Battle City.... Kaiba Seto did not like to admit that there was even the slightest possibility that he had a past life with similar circumstances to that of Mutou Yūgi. That would be admitting that there was even a _slight_ possibility that he could somehow have an.... _Other_ like said diminutive duellist, and of course, that was completely impossible. _Magic was Something That Happened To Other People_. And besides, he didn't believe in reincarnation anyway. How could he be something that didn't exist? 

~~~***~~~ 

Mutou Sugoroku, known to most people as Yūgi's Jiichan, _did_ believe in magic. However, despite his wizened years (albeit, he was not as aged as some, but who was he to know?), he had only seen proof of it's existence once, and he had been a young man then. What he did know, however, was that for the past few months his grandson had been acting.... odd. Not like he had been before he had made his new friends, when, though Yūgi had never said a word, he had known he was being picked on.... No, he was just slightly - and it _was_ only slightly - different than before. Something had happened at the end of Battle City.... the finals, which he had been, much to his sorrow, been unable to attend because his daughter - bless her soul, she worked so hard, keeping both a full-time, highly stressful job AND attempting to cook, clean, wash and do for Yūgi all the other things most full-time mothers did for their sons - had finally succumbed to stress and collapsed at work, and he felt compelled to be by her side.  
So, unfortunately, he had missed it - but that didn't mean he hadn't heard things - the world of Magic and Wizards was small, especially in Japan, and so the owner of a shop with as good a reputation as Sugoroku's heard a lot of things - tales of dark Gods trapped in cards, and the even darker, ruthless beings who commanded them, and the handful of duellists who could stand up against them for more than a turn or two.... a class of their own, each an unstoppable force in their own right, impervious to normal methods or techniques.... so high up that a new chart had to be invented for them. And the other tales.... tales of magic and darkness, of people being pushed past the point of insanity and back.... of people being struck down by God and living to tell about it.... though they never did tell, none of those who actually duelled ever breathed a word about magic, or gods.... or about the worst rumours of all, the ones people feared even to repeat, of suffocating darkness, and blood running over gold. They would tell you about the duels themselves.... Yūgi would talk about Bakura's Occult Combo, and Malik's ruthlessness and how Kaiba (that bastard, damn him straight to the fiery pits of hell) had finally been defeated.... again. But it was always just in terms of the cards and the strategy behind it.... never was anything out of the ordinary mentioned, not even for a second. Which was why Sugoroku _knew_ they weren't telling him something.  
Rumors had to start _somewhere_ after all. Which brought him back to how Yūgi had been acting lately. He seemed.... a little more distracted. Just a little. He tended to stare off into space a little more than he usually did, or simply not hear you when you were talking to him. It was only slight, he doubted anyone else would have noticed, it was only that he'd been looking after Yūgi for so long that he'd noticed it himself. It worried him. There was something going on with Yūgi.... his friends knew, he was sure of it. Even the quiet one, what was his name? Bakura. That boy unnerved him! He was so nice and polite, but.... every so often, he'd drop by the shop, buy a few cards, chat with him, chat with Yūgi.... and Yūgi would do something odd, stare into space, or not watch were he was going and bump into something.... And he'd watch, and either wait patiently for Yūgi to snap out of it, or ask if he was okay, or whatever it was that the situation required.... But he'd have a funny glint in his eye, and the corner of his mouth would upturn, just slightly, to a small smile, as though he knew exactly what was going on, perhaps more than Yūgi did, it seemed at time, and found it all highly amusing. He didn't mean it unkindly, you could tell, he just found the whole situation hilarious. It was very, very unnerving. In fact, now that he thought about it.... Bakura, out of all of Yūgi's friends never was surprised at anything, nor angry. Often late, often slow, very easily distracted and always extremely apologetic about it.... but nothing ever seemed to get under his skin. He was a very strange child, and, Sugoroku realized, one of the main reasons he felt there was a lot more going on than what he was being told.  
Something was happening to his Yūgi, his precious grandson, and he had no idea what it was. He just wished Yūgi would tell him what was going on!! Then again, he suspected, at times, he did not even know himself. 

~~~***~~~ 

Sometimes I wonder when they'll finally get it. When the penny will drop, when they'll break the illusions they've created for themselves (though not without more than a little help on my part, I must admit), and start seeing Truth.  
But they won't. They'll continue to as the quiet, shy, gentle, polite boy, totally dominated by my Other. I'm not. It is true that I'm quiet, and polite, but that's where the illusion ends. I'm not shy, I'm antisocial. I don't see the point in talking to people. When you've seen what I've seen, been where I've been.... when you know what I know.... the concerns of most people seem so petty.... why even bother trying to live a normal life full of normal worries. It'll never happen. It can't. As soon as you get settled, get comfortable in the life you're living.... something will come along and shatter your facade.... and that's all it can ever be.  
Yūgi hasn't realized it yet. He's still trying to be normal, trying to live on a weekly basis - and he's really doing quite well. But even he's starting to slip. Only starting, mind, but it's there, lurking.  
As for gentle.... that's just a complete and utter lie. I'm not gentle. It's just stabbing people at school tends to get you expelled, and fast. And finding a new school is just too much effort, honestly. And other times.... well, my yami _likes_ stabbing people. I don't particularly like it, but I'm not afraid to do it if someone's pissing me off. I don't do it around my friends. I value their friendship too much for that.... because I think that that would scare them, if they knew. They tend to forget that I'm into the Occult too.... it's rather amusing, really if a little weird. How could they forget something like that?  
And as for being dominated by Yami.... The only sort of real control he has over me stems from the fact that he practically raised me. Ku.... That would _really_ freak them out, I'm sure, if they knew that. But what the don't know wont hurt them.... Because.... they really hate my yami. It's understandable, I guess. He **is** a complete and utter bastard, after all. And he's not to fond of them, either. But, growing up around him, I can't hate him. And that's not even taking into account that he is, after all, my yami. Who could hate their other half?  
I guess that's what it comes down to, in the end. Why they care about being normal and I don't. They were raised fully in this world, by people who love them (with the exception of Kaiba-kun, of course.... and perhaps Jounounchi-kun as well....), whereas I.... I have been raised half in this world, and half in another.... a world both more and less dark than the Shadow Realm, the Darkness of tormented souls, not the same, but still a part of it (for how else would my yami know of it?), but not a part.... in which any other mortal has trod. According to the residents, anyway. And, no matter what you say, my yami isn't a nice guy, by any stretch of the imagination.  
I guess that's the difference between us. I've never been normal, and don't particularly care to be, even if I did know how, whereas they have been.... and don't realize yet that they can no longer be so. They take me as I show myself to be because they like what they see, it's something they can deal with without stretching their brain cells to much extent.... and I'm more than happy to keep it that way. Maybe they will figure it out, someday. But that may take a very long time. 

Or, as my yami would say, maybe I'm just too damn optimistic. 

~~~***~~~ 

I guess the fact I still remember anything other that this is a miracle in itself, really. Or, perhaps fate, I am no longer sure which. I'm not sure of much, really. Why everlasting, all-consuming darkness did not send me mad, but just gave me a long time to think. To repent. To grieve. To reflect on my past mistakes.... To know my Self so well I no longer have need of a conscience. No, the darkness was long, agonizingly long, but that was all.  
I think, out of the three of us, I was the only one who actually knew what was happening. Pharaoh.... he had to come, at any cost, no matter what was best at the time. So, although I knew his experience would be worse than any others.... I told him nothing. Duty such as mine is never easy, especially to one such as him. But it must be done, for our souls, if nothing else. As for the Thief King.... he is not who he used to be. I could not leave him to terrorize the people without Pharaoh's vengeance to keep him in line. Perhaps, now, he has changed.... though I doubt it.  
But for myself, who knew all the risks, why did I come? Because our three souls are bound together, bound by blood and by fate. I could not stay behind even if I wished to. I love them too much for that.  
I knew of the darkness I would be bound in, for hundreds, perhaps even thousands of years. I endured it. So why am I bound still? Why am I still imprisoned, when I can feel my Other, who's light shines so brightly, to me at least, that in his existence only, it begins to drive the shadows from my soul. I can sense the Thief King has found his Other, as has Pharaoh, a short time after - I think it was short, anyway. Time has very little meaning here. Why can they find their Others, their light, the salvation of their souls.... yet I am forced to wait, in a state of unknown name. No longer bound by darkness.... but unable to reach the light.  
It is maddening! To know of one's salvation, and not be able to reach it. _DAMN IT!_ DAMN IT ALL! Damn it all to the jaws of the devourer, and may He take the souls of those who would stand between me and my Light!!  
I don't know if I can take much more of this. This short time of.... _in-between_.... is doing that which hundreds of times more of solitary imprisonment could not.... Insanity befalls me, and there is nothing I can do now but pray for my salvation. 


	2. 2: An Unexpected Package

Back again, are we? -- Appreciated.  
Notes for this chapter -  
1. Even though most people call him 'Kaiba', I'm calling Seto 'Seto', because otherwise I get him confused with Mokuba.  
2. As he's a total bastard to write, he may be slightly OOC. I just haven't go my brain around him.  
3. Yami Bakura gains more names. Because I said so. (And because he had no defined name, so I can play around with it at will. =oP)  
4. I talk too much. Sorry. On a side note, this chapter is over 5000 words. --() The first was just over 2,700. Sorry it took so long.  
5. There is Japanese in this chapter. Both romaji-ized, and real. The real ones are explained, but if it doesn't show up on you computer (or 's being a bitch, or if I got it wrong), please tell me, and I'll fix it.

**Japanese you may need to know.**  
Daijyoubu - 'I'm alright'/ with a question mark 'are you alright?'  
Toki no Ocarina - Japanese name for _Ocarina of Time_. --  
É? Are? Nanka? - Basically 'Hey, what's that?', or 'what the?'

_Ties of Blood, Ties of Fate, Ties of Soul_

By Tyger and Darkdracofire

Rating - currently PG13: language.

Chapter 2 - An Unexpected Package

_'Fate leads the willing, and drags along the reluctant'_  
-Seneca

On the whole, the two Kaiba brothers were pretty good about housework. They, unlike most of the male species, and, quite honestly, unlike most of the human population in general, actually understood the fact that mess did not go away of it's own accord. So they hired people to clean the house - during the day, while they were both at school. After Duelist Kingdom, they had both become a bit paranoid about other people in the house with them, the elder Kaiba especially. So they were now the only two permanent inhabitants of the entire mansion. Of course, this then meant they had to do their own cooking, but Mokuba didn't mind that. He also knew his brother would probably forget to eat if it was left up to anyone but him, so he was becoming quite proficient at it. He had to take care of his Nii-sama, after all.  
However, there was one household chore that both of the brothers loathed with a passion, one that no one else could complete. They couldn't trust anyone else to do it, anyway.  
Answering the mail.  
Normally, you would think that this would just be a small task, something that would take at most five minutes out of the day, but let's not forget that the Kaiba brothers were both young, rich, famous, single and male. This sort of thing led to many, many fangirls all over the world, particularly for the older Kaiba, although Mokuba was beginning to form his own small cult1 as well. Most business mail went straight to Kaiba Corp, but invitations to parties, dinners, formals and the like somehow related to people met through the business also went into the growing pile. So, considering these factors, as well as bills, advertisements, other oddments and the stuff you actually _wanted_ to get in the mail, it should come as no surprise that a very large volume of mail piled up in the household rather quickly. They tried to check it - or, more accurately, Mokuba tried to drag his Nii-sama out from any number of places, including his office (both work and home), his bedroom, any of his labs or testing facilities and basically anywhere he had an excuse to go to that had a top-of-the-line computer in it (his personal computer lab the most notorious), long enough to get rid of it once a week, but with Battle City and the events surrounding it, it hadn't been checked for over a month.  
Oh yes. There was a _loooot_ of mail.... 

"Nii-sama! Nii-sama!! Nii--------sama!!" Where is he?? I frown to myself. I've looked everywhere for him!! Unless.... he was taking a break. It was the middle of the afternoon on a Sunday, so he would usually be working of some pet project or other around about now. However.... he _had_ said that his project was nearly finished. And it was much too late in the day to start a new one - contrary to popular belief, Nii-sama isn't a workaholic - just a perfectionist. Which means he can take a break before starting something new. I don't think I could live with a workaholic Nii-sama. I'd never see him! That would be bad. And if he was taking a break, there were only a couple of places he could be. I smile. He's probably playing a Zelda or a Final Fantasy game. Again. Nii-sama likes RPG games best out of all Video Games. That, and strategy, of course. But he likes Magic and Wizards best, obviously. And other card games like that. Old-fashioned board games are second best. Like Chess, or Go or Mah Jong, Chess in particular. It doesn't matter what culture it's from, as long as it's _old_. I don't know why he loves such old board games so much, but doesn't particularly like modern ones. He says it's because they have character, but I don't know about that. Monopoly is a pretty new game, comparatively, but it has character. So does Capmon, but Nii-sama doesn't really like Capmon at all. I guess it's too much like M&W for him - and there's no denying it's a lot more simplistic, on the surface at least. It can get quite complex, particularly if you're fighting against someone of equal skill. Walkovers are no fun, unless you really hate the person you're flattening. My most secret, current goal is to beat mou hitori no Yūgi-kun in Capmon. It'll probably never happen, I mean he's flattened me twice, but.... Nii-sama lost to him twice before he beat him at Duelist Kingdom. Jounounchi-kun says he cheated, but I ....wasn't there.... so I can't really tell. Jounounchi-kun usually exaggerates when it comes to my brother. I can believe it, though. Nii-sama doesn't always play fair. Jounounchi-kun always says, though, that Nii-sama was really, really worried about me, so maybe that's the only reason he won. Around Yūgi-kun, no one seems to lose if they're fighting for someone special to them. Except Pegasus, but he is? was? a thoroughly evil bastard, so I guess he doesn't count. Besides, mou hitori no Yūgi-kun was fighting for Yūgi-kun, and Mutou-san.... and Nii-sama and me, too. That was kind of sweet of him, really. I guess we both owe him for that, though Nii-sama would never, ever admit it. Somehow, though, I don't think mou hitori no Yūgi-kun would want him to. Otherwise, I think he would have mentioned it by now. It has brought us closer to Yūgi-kun and him. Nii-sama has even been nicer to them (though he hides it well). As for me.... I haven't tried to kill him and his friends again (was that a disaster if there ever was one!), and, more recently, I've been going to the Game-ya every now and then to say hi. That's when I talk to Jounounchi-kun too. He's there a lot. He and Yūgi-kun are like brothers. It's kinda cute. I guess I have to admit I like Yūgi-kun and Jounounchi-kun. They're nice, interesting people into the stuff I am - and they don't treat me like a kid, either. To be honest, I've been going to the Game-ya more and more, lately. I think it's because both Yūgi-kun and Jounounchi-kun seem to genuinely like my company, Yūgi's Jii-chan as well. Which is very different from the fawning idiots at school. Flunkies can be good in some situations, but.... they do get rather tedious after a while. And very rarely make for good conversation. Sometimes Honda-kun and Anzu-san are there too. They're okay, I guess. Honda-kun doesn't speak to me much, but he seems to be intelligent. He doesn't like games much though, which isn't good, but he does have a dog called Blanky. I love dogs almost as much as I love games. Especially really big dogs like Blanky. Anzu-san is kinda a bit too girly for me, though. I suppose she'd be okay if she liked games, but she doesn't. Bakura-kun likes games, though. But.... I'm not sure if I like him or not yet. I've only talked to him once, actually, and he seems nice, if kind of weird. He likes RPG games best. Not videogame RPGs, like Nii-sama likes, proper tabletop RPGs, like Monster World. I've only played it once, it's kind of cool. But Capmon is still the best!! Come to think of it, I think I've only seen Bakura-kun at the Game-ya once. I wonder why? He seems nice enough. Wait.... didn't he say he'd only just transferred to Nii-sama's school recently? Maybe he has a lot of homework. But he was at Duelist Kingdom.... that was a while ago. Maybe he's just not the visiting type. I could believe that, easily. Or maybe we just keep missing each other. Who knows?  
Anyway, if Nii-sama is playing video games, he'll be in our game room. People seem to expect that in a house of this size with two game fanatic brothers, as it's only residents that our game room would be huge, so-big-you-can't-see-the-other-side type huge. It's not, it's just a normal room, maybe a _little_ bigger that your average room, but only by a little bit. Having a room that big would be too weird, and especially jarring on your nerves. People say Nii-sama and me are paranoid about being assassinated/kidnapped/snuck up upon by journalists etc, - but it's hardly paranoia if it's true. Urg. Big word. I'm too young to know words like that!! Living with Nii-sama does that to you.... Anyway, I, personally have been kidnapped several times, sometimes purely for ransom, others so people can control Nii-sama in some way. And there have been 17 attempts on Nii-sama's life this year. With stuff like that going on, who can blame us? Besides, there's only the two of us, why do we need a big room? I mean, there's only a certain amount of games you can be playing at one time. Well, for me at least. I don't know how many games Nii-sama can play at a time - just that he hasn't reached his limit yet. Nii-sama is a really sneaky guy - I think it's the only reason we're still here. I don't really know much about business yet, but it seems to me that only the sneakiest guys get very far. Pegasus is? was? a pretty sneaky guy, maybe as sneaky as Nii-sama. He might have succeeded in beating Nii-sama, except he had 3 fatal flaws in his plan - firstly, he kidnapped me in the middle of his Duelist Kingdom tournament, which meant that there was a lot more people on the island than usual, so there was a much bigger chance of some sneaky person other than Nii-sama sneaking into the castle and finding out about his plan. Secondly, he let people know Nii-sama was in _biiig_ trouble by letting the finalists watch his duel with Nii-sama, and thirdly, he let Yūgi-kun and mou hitori no Yūgi-kun duel him for our souls, (as well as Mutou-san's), knowing at least half of the Sennen Puzzle's power, and of the existence of mou hitori no Yūgi-kun. I mean, even some of Domino city's lowliest bugs knew by then it is a very, very good idea not to pick on anyone even remotely resembling Yūgi-kun if they valued their pride (if not their sanity) by then - most people _had_ seen and/or heard of DEATH-T, too, so they should know just how lucky the guy is too!! (I mean, not even really, really, really good duelist can summon Exodia without at least a _little_ bit of luck - and, Jounounchi-kun also says, even if they have a _lot_ of copies of the pieces in their deck.) So Pegasus probably should have waited for a while, even though he was so arrogant that he seemed to believe he could win against _the lot_ of us without breaking a sweat. Which means that he wasn't as sneaky as he made himself look like - _really_ sneaky people act arrogant in public, but organize things to have the least possible chance of failure. That's what Nii-sama say, anyway, and he's sneaky enough that I believe him. Still, everything worked out in the end, and I can't say I care about Pegasus enough to find out what happened to him - he hasn't been heard of since, but he's probably just back in America terrorizing the business world with the Sennen Eye.  
Anyway, I bound up the stairs to the game room. Nii-sama likes stairs because if in the right place they can look very dramatic and impressive, and they make good escape routes if they're thin and narrow and hidden in the walls. Told you Nii-sama was sneaky! I like stairs for a different reason - they're just so much fun to slide down! Banisters, too. Nii-sama doesn't approve of such antics - but he doesn't try to stop me either. There's lots of stairs in our house - it can be kind of confusing to get around, at first, kind of like a really big maze. It's really fun to play hide-and-seek in! There's heaps and heaps of hidy-holes. I was right, too - Nii-sama is playing Zelda. It's on Gamecube, too, so it's probably the new version of Toki no Ocarina, by the look of it.  
"Nii-sama...." I wrap my arms around his neck and peer over his shoulder to watch the game. I don't get to hug him often, he's not the best at showing affection, is my Nii-sama. So, of course, I hug him whenever I can. Hey! It's chibi-Link in the well! Cool!  
"Yes, Mokuba?" Oh-oh, I think he's annoyed at being interrupted. Oops.  
"I'm bored. Let's play a game." He looks at me out of the corner of his eye.  
"....What kind of game?" He's suspicious! Damn, I must have that mischievous little smirk on. Oops again.  
"Well.... it's called 'let's-go-check-the-mail-before-we-drown-in-it'."  
"And what makes you think I'm willing to give up my free time in order to do such a thing?"  
"Because," I make a passable representation of mou hitori no Yūgi-kun's devilish 'victory grin' "I'm not going to feed you until you do, and," I playfully poke him in the ribs, "you're thin enough as it is. Besides, I wasn't kidding when I said we're gonna drown in mail before long." I beam up at him angelically. Somehow, I don't think he buys it, as he very carefully pauses his game and puts the controller in a safe place, and turns around to face me.  
"Oh? You think I'm thin, do you?"  
"You _are_ thin, Nii-sama. You don't eat enough, and you drink too much coffee." I glare at him, but, lets just say I'm not very good at glaring yet.  
"You don't know what _real_ thin is, then."  
"Do so!" I stick my tongue out at him. "You're the second-most-thinnest person I know! After Yūgi-kun, of course." He raises an eyebrow.  
"Yūgi is a midget, so he doesn't count, and besides, there are plenty of people thinner than I am. **You** just haven't noticed." He pokes my nose, and I stick my tongue out at him again.  
"Yeah? Like who?"  
"Bakura, for one."  
"You said Yūgi-kun doesn't count because he's short," I point out "so Bakura-kun shouldn't count because he's _petite_" Nii-sama rolls his eyes.  
"He's not, actually, if you ever bothered to look. His posture is just atrocious. If he ever stood up straight I'd say he's be nearly as tall as I am." Bakura-kun? Taller than Nii-sama? Yeah, right - Jounounchi-kun is taller than Bakura-kun, and Honda-kun is taller than Jounounchi-kun, and Nii-sama is taller than Honda-kun, easily.  
"No way, Nii-sama, you're the tallest, definitely! And the thinnest. You _definitely_ need to eat more!! Don't try to deny it, either! I bet even _Yūgi-kun_ eats more than you!! You're gonna turn into a midget if you don't eat more!" I laugh, and from anyone else that would be a deadly insult, but he knows I'm only joking, that I'm just worried about him, that I'd never try to hurt him, so he just tickles me, and I squirm and accidentally kick him in the gut, and we end up in a wrestling match, but he wins of course, because he's so much bigger and stronger than me, but I do manage to throw him - just once, of course, but it proves that my Aikido classes are paying off, even if he isn't winded like he's supposed to be, but that's okay, because he jumps up and wraps me in a massive bear-hug, like he used to do when I was really little, and he has that look on his face again, that look that I only see every once in a while, with happy contented eyes and his mouth turned into an almost-smile, and everything is perfect, and I know he loves me, even if he doesn't show it much, and he's just my Nii-sama, Seto, not Mr. Kaiba, CEO of Kaiba Corp., or Kaiba Seto, game genius. He's just Seto, and I'm just Mokuba, and, for that instant, everything is perfect. Who cares about the mail at a time like this? 

Kaiba Seto was not happy. Granted, this was not unusual for him, but that did not make it a nicer emotion to experience. Why, oh why did he allow his belovéd little brother to manipulate him? Damnit, why did he have to be so adorable? He knew that he had never been that cute. He scowled down at the latest monstrosity that had emerged from the mailbox. He had to admit, Mokuba had been right - the mailbox had been overflowing when they'd gotten to it. There'd even been dust on the floor surrounding the spilled envelopes, which, he mused idly, showed the cleaning staff's respect for their privacy - or their fear of his wrath. He threw the letter into the nearby shredder without even bothering to open it. As far as he was concerned, anyone who sent pink, sparkly envelopes to people was obviously not worth knowing. Unfortunately for Seto, there were many such envelopes ­ and many more similarly disgusting letters hidden inside normal-looking envelopes. Seto _despised_ fanmail. Not only because of it's spontaneous irrationality, but also because there was _so much_ of it. Being famous, in itself, was annoying. It cut into his precious little free time ­ time he would much rather be spending with Mokuba, or even working. Despite his public appearance, he was **not** a social person. Mokuba found it amusing that so few people knew this - but they were the people that counted. He didn't have to _like_ them for them to count. Not by far. The only person he actually liked was Mokuba. But that was understandable. Seto hadn't had the best experiences with strangers.   
They had a routine going ­ Seto would sort through the mailbox, shredding the more obvious of the fanmail, while Mokuba meticulously opened, then sorted the remainder. Because of the sheer quantity of fanmail, this actually turned out to be a roughly even proportion of jobs, and Mokuba was more interested in the actual contents of the mail than Seto was.. Then again, fanmail amused him, while it just annoyed Seto. Then again, so did most fans over the age of 10. Particularly the girls. Girls, to Seto, were highly irrational beings, and rationality was one of his most favoured traits.  
He glanced into the box. It was still, after close to two hours of sorting, still half full. Were he a lesser man he would have sighed. He had been hoping to clock _Toki no Ocarina_ again today. Perhaps next week. No, next week he was at a conference. The week after, then. He pointedly ignored the fact that if they hadn't been neglecting the mail they wouldn't be in such a predicament. It'd probably only take them 10 minutes a day, if they actually sat down and did it. Granted, this is a quite a long time, as it takes most people all of ten _seconds_, but no-where near as exhausting as two hours. Particularly when there's at least half again left. Why couldn't people just send him e-mails?  
"Ne, Nii-sama…." Mokuba, of course, beaming up at him like he was having the time of his life.  
"Nn?"  
"Wanna drink?"  
"That would be nice."  
"What'd you like?" Seto just raised an eyebrow at him. Mokuba sighed, then laughed. "Okay, okay, stupid question. One coffee, coming right up." He turned, and bounded over to the door…. Before promptly falling flat on his face.  
"Aa! Itte" Seto was already halfway out of his seat before Mokuba had touched the floor.  
"Daijyoubu?" The word sprang to his lips unbidden. Of course he was okay! He'd only tripped.  
"Hai, hai, daijyoubu. É? Are? Nanka?" The black-haired child picked up a smallish package, about the size of three M&W decks stacked next to each other, Seto noted, wrapped in brown paper. "Stupid box." Mokuba said, talking very seriously to the package. "You made me fall over." He scowled down at the box, before getting to his feet. Frowning slightly, he turned the box over in his hands. "It's for you, Nii-sama, but it's….it's weird…." He handed it over to Seto, still frowning puzzledly at it. Seto had to agree with him ­ it was odd. It wasn't the box in itself, it seemed to be a perfectly ordinary, brown-paper-wrapped box. Inexpertly wrapped, too, Seto noted, as one of the ends was coming unstuck ­ but that may have happened when Mokuba tripped over it, of course. No, what was odd about it was it's distinct lack of an address, identifying mark, or any other device that would ensure that it got to it's destination safely. It didn't even have a stamp! In fact, the only marks on it were four, very familiar kanji characters -「海馬瀬人」 - his own name of course. (How else would Mokuba know it was his?) They were neatly, but inexpertly written, probably by a child ­ or a foreigner.  
"Strange…." He murmured. "How did it get here?"  
"Are you going to open it?" Asked Mokuba, who was still frowning at the box.  
"It might not be safe. I should probably run some tests first."  
"Nii-sama…. it got in here, didn't it? If it was dangerous, there's no way it would be here, you know that."  
"It also doesn't have an address, and it's still here. "  
"Whoever sent it could have just dropped it into the mailbox." Seto couldn't come up with an excuse for that. It hadn't even occurred to him. Mokuba, however, was beginning to get impatient with his brother. The Box, as he had unconsciously dubbed it, had roused his curiosity, and, damnit, he wanted to know what was inside!  
"Here, I'll open it for you." He made to grab The Box, but Seto quickly moved it out of his reach.  
"No, I'll do it." He tore off the brown paper. Neither of the brothers were expecting anything in particular, but the box itself was quite disappointing. It was made out of thin, pale wood, the sort of thing commonly used for packing, with a slide-out lid. It was also completely without markings of any sort, which enhanced the disappointment ­ and the mystery. Seto slid back the lid to reveal a box full of…. packing popcorn. Seto _was not happy_ at this turn of events. _Anything_ could be hidden in that, and there was no way to tell what it was without sticking your hand straight in it. You could tip it out, but if it was fragile, there was a high chance of it breaking…. and Mokuba most certainly didn't have the patience for taking out the packing piece by piece, and would stick his hand in anyway. He scowled down at the box. It was making things _most_ difficult.  
"Well?"  
"Alright, alright." Grumbling ­ but only mentally, of course ­ Seto stuck his hand in. His cautious ­ not tentative, cautious ­ fingers brushed against a cold, metallic surface, and suddenly, he was gripping the whatever-it-was in his fist, though he hadn't moved a muscle. He went very, very pale…. and fainted dead away. 

Light? Light! Bright now, bright like the noonday sun, much brighter than it had ever been before!  
My Other is near.  
My Other is near, and is coming closer. Glorious day, bring me my Other, 'fore night can snuff out his beauteous soul.  
Closer, closer, closer still.  
Come to me, my Other. I shall care for you.  
Close, close, but not close enough.  
Come, my Other. I may ask for your soul, but I give you mine. It is all that I have to give.  
Closer, closer, oh-so-close….  
Come, my Other, not far now.  
A brush of your fingertips. Grab! MINE!  
I have you now, my Other. I will never let you go.  
We are together now, my Other. Forever and always, untouchable and unbreakable. You may not have known what you were missing but you found it anyway.  
You belong to me, my Other, for good or for ill. I will not let anyone else touch you. I will never let you go.  
Forever and always, my Other. You are me and I am you and together we are perfection. No one else can share that. No one else can come close.  
You are _mine_, my Other.  
I will never let you go. 

Mutou Yūgi was, like the dutiful child he was, doing his homework in his room when it happened. (Actually, he was doing it because it was due in first thing Monday morning, but the former is just so much more flattering.) A short, sharp burst of magic, so potent even to his newfound senses that he nearly fell off his chair in shock. Since the end of Battle City, his yami had thought it prudent to teach his light how to sense magic, and Yū was more than happy to agree. He wasn't very good at it yet, however, as his yami's non-existent memories made it rather difficult for him to teach, as much of his magic seemed to be so well ingrained that it was all automatic for him, but they were getting there, slowly. It helped that they could share feelings, somewhat.  
"_Nani? Mou hitori no boku? What was that_?" The voice inside his mind was silent for a second.  
"_Itte_" He grumbled.  
"_Daijyoubu_?"  
"_Nn, daijyoubu. Sorry, aibou, what did you say_?"  
"_What was that_?" The dark spirit gave the mental equivalent of a frown.  
"_I don't know, aibou. It seems familiar, but…._" An almost-sigh. The spirit was beginning to get frustrated with his inability to remember anything. Even Isis didn't know why the Cards of the Gods hadn't brought his memories back ­ and had gone back to Egypt and it's tombs to try and find out, taking her brothers with her. "_I don't know what it was, or who cast it ­ but I can tell you it's not malicious in any way….. for once. Other than that, I just don't know_."  
"_That's okay. I'm just glad it's not someone being nasty_."  
"_Yes, I guess you're right. I suppose it's nothing to worry about_."

Things at Bakura's apartment were much different ­ through a combination of his memories, practice, luck, necessity and his own distinct brand of innovative magic, the Spirit of the Ring, know to some as Touzokuou, had managed to find a way to create a somewhat-corporeal form outside of the Ring itself. It was a very convincing form, and infinitely compressed illusion that could almost pass for human ­ except for the fact that instead of bleeding, it simply leaked the dark magic from which it was made, and any such abrasions could be fixed with no more than a wave of a hand. Useful at times, very, very unhelpful at others, but above all annoying for the Mage Thief, who, despite all the trying by both himself and his hikari, couldn't figure out why it wouldn't work. The Thief was many things - many of them unexpected ­ a perfectionist was one of them.  
When it happened, the two of them were both bent over, concentrating on their favoured tasks, and neither appreciated the disruption. Curse words from at least a dozen different tongues punctuated the air, neither of the pair particularly caring what it was ­ they both knew exactly what the other meant, and that was all that mattered to them.  
"Well, at least the idiot priest's finally got his act together." The thief eventually spat out, disgust evident in his voice.  
"I suppose we're going to go and see him, then." Bakura, on the other hand, seemed to have quickly recovered from his bout of annoyance, and only faint amusement at his Other could be detected in his tone.  
"Pfft. Perhaps. If the King and Sunshine don't go. Perhaps."  
"You don't want to see him." It wasn't a question. "Of course not. He _did_ kill me, after all. And it's not as if we got on terribly well beforehand, either. Stupid Idiot Priest. " The thief continued to grumble and mutter in a characteristically vicious way, where as Bakura just smiled and rolled his eyes.  
"Fate is a hard taskmaster." He smiled as he said it, but his eyes were sad with the horrors he'd witnessed. The interruption suitably dealt with, the pair turned back to their computer programming and knife cleaning respectively.

Isis Ishtal, Egyptologist, Bearer of the Sennen Tauk, Seeress, Mage of the Second Degree and the jewel of the Ishtar clan, was cooking when it happened. Isis didn't particularly like cooking, but, as she much preferred it to starving, she found herself doing it quite often. Neither of her brothers could cook very well, even if she was willing to let Malik near so many knives. Rishid was often out on Sundays, anyway. The wave of magic was so strong to her finely-trained senses that she stumbled, and nearly fell. As it was, she had to ease herself to the floor slowly before he knees gave way. She put her head in her hands, until she realized they were trembling. She just sat there, staring at her shaking hands until her brother stuck his head into the kitchen.  
"Hey, Isis, what do you think ­ Isis?" He frowned, and walked over to her. "Isis? Isis? Are you okay?" He asked with worry in his voice. At that, she managed to shakily raise her head and look him in the eye.  
"I'm okay." It was a lie, and they both knew it, but it made everything better.  
"What was that?" Malik asked, even though, in his heart of hearts we knew _precisely_ what it was.  
"Let's just hope that it's friendly." Isis whispered. "Because I don't think the world would be able to ignore another battle." Oh, Ra save us. Another Spirit of Darkness lives.  
May the Gods have mercy on our souls.

His Royal Egyptian Annoyingness, Shadi felt the magical burst and inwardly smiled. Everything was going to plan perfectly.

1 'cult' is often used to describe large masses of fangirls. 'Horde' is also appropriate. 


End file.
